Thermal spa recent experiences - are you noticing it is no longer quiet due to loud conversations?

[Candy Apple 12]

21 minutes ago, Seas2mountains said:

Thank you. My husband and I both provided the spa feedback in the post-cruise survey earlier this week and I also provided additional information in a guest experience case that was submitted shortly after.  We have not yet heard back from that form. We did not request a refund from the amount we paid for the spa suite but asked if this problem can please be addressed to improve the experience since it was happening on several ships.

 

What is a guest experience case? It’ll be interesting to hear their response. 

[cruiseny4life]

My experience, as you probably know, comes from 2022 - on. In April 2022 we experienced the loudest thermal suite on Getaway. We eventually learned when the quiet times would be. Basically, a group of dads would come in and hang out in that giant bubble machine, speaking very loudly. Every day. But, thankfully, they'd go get drunk in the evenings, so the thermal suite was quiet.

 

On our second and third Getaway sailings, the suite was much quieter, though there were still a few that occasionally made it loud. Including some dumb $#!t on his cell phone. Anyway, on Pr1ma, back in November, it was very quiet. The loudest thing, every single time, were the snores from folks that passed out. 

 

So, I think it's really about the crowd. April 2022 was a, Easter tri-state spring break crowd. Then we had a 30% capacity ship, then Thanksgiving week, and finally a Transatlantic with a lot of folks that just wanted to rest and relaxate. 

 

The loud thermal suites are definitely not a great experience! I think for our Western Caribbean cruise in February, we're going to skip the thermal suite and just use the sauna in the Haven and the sundeck there. 

[SoloAlaska]

That thermal spas are quiet places is something that overall is changing in the industry. We got an outdoor thermal space near me about 20 years ago and it was very very quiet. As it became really popular especially with bachelorette parties it’s become less so. Now there are places without any quiet rules. Sadly I only see it getting worse before it gets better.

[BenDover]

I always get the thermal suite when sailing on NCL. Some times it is blissfully quiet, other times people seem to be yelling at each other. It only takes one rude party to totally change the entire vibe. 
I ALWAYS take ear buds or headphone and have downloaded tranquil music ready to go. 

[Seas2mountains]

On 6/9/2024 at 5:04 PM, Candy Apple 12 said:

What is a guest experience case? It’ll be interesting to hear their response. 

You can find this on the Contact us section of the NCL website. This was the first time I have used this option. When completing the survey, it says that they will not get back to you for survey comments and to contact them if you want a response to a concern.

 

To share any questions or concerns with our guest experience team after your cruise, please click below. We will respond to your concerns as soon as possible. Thank you for your patience and understanding.

• Click here to submit any post-cruise questions, concerns and/or feedback.

[Seas2mountains]

22 hours ago, cruiseny4life said:

Anyway, on Pr1ma, back in November, it was very quiet. The loudest thing, every single time, were the snores from folks that passed out. 

 

This is wonderful to hear as you can guess which ship we are on next and if you guess the Prima, ding, ding, ding, you are correct! We did get the thermal spa pass and hope it is as quiet as you described. Fingers crossed. 

 

22 hours ago, cruiseny4life said:

So, I think it's really about the crowd. 

 

 

Yes, this cruise had a lot of large groups of friends and families sailing together which meant they went to the thermal spa together. We did try going in the morning around 9am.

22 hours ago, cruiseny4life said:

I think for our Western Caribbean cruise in February, we're going to skip the thermal suite and just use the sauna in the Haven and the sundeck there. 

What ship will you be on? That is great to hear that you have another cruise booked!

[Seas2mountains]

21 hours ago, SoloAlaska said:

That thermal spas are quiet places is something that overall is changing in the industry. We got an outdoor thermal space near me about 20 years ago and it was very very quiet. As it became really popular especially with bachelorette parties it’s become less so. Now there are places without any quiet rules. Sadly I only see it getting worse before it gets better.

I wondered that, too, which is why I asked the question here on CC and also followed up with a ticket to guest experience team and did get a response.

Since the Breakaway had no signs posted warning people that it was a quiet place, I wondered if NCL was intending for it to be like a lounge or pool area where talking was the norm. 

 

The response I received indicates that NCL also expects it to be a quiet area. I'll post the response I got below.

[Seas2mountains]

Here is the response I received from the guest experience team after creating a ticket. This was my first experience with submitting a ticket. My husband sent in a ticket like this about 10 years ago when the pool and hot tubs were shut down on the Jade for the first day due to equipment from a charter cruise before our cruise. We received some FCC for the loss of the use of the pool/hot tub on the first day of the cruise. I did not ask for any compensation as I just wanted to ask about the expectations and to share that it was not a great experience.

 

We are concerned to learn of your disappointment with the experience you had at the thermal spa. We make every effort to ensure a positive cruise experience for all our passengers and we regret yours was diminished due to these circumstances. Please let us to assure you that your experience was unusual and not at all indicative of the experience provided on a Norwegian Cruise Line voyage.

Feedback from our valued guests is vital to the continued success of our organization. Please be assured the constructive criticism you have offered has been forwarded to the various departments involved, so they may be aware of your impressions. It is by receiving feedback such as yours that we are able to highlight areas that may need closer attention.

Thank you for this opportunity to review your concerns. We certainly hope that aside from the points mentioned, you found other aspects of your voyage enjoyable and trust you will consider Norwegian Cruise Line for your next vacation. It would be our pleasure to welcome you back onboard any one of our vessels soon.

I would interpret that to mean that the sentence I changed to bold font indicates NCL also expects it to be a quiet area? We will find out on the next few cruises with thermal spa passes.

 

As mentioned, we had a great time on this cruise and are fortunate we have had the ability to cruise and get the opportunity to go again so I don't want to sound like too much of a complainer. It seemed like something that could be corrected with reminders, signs (no signs on the Breakaway), and with the spa personnel who are present in the area with the authority to provide gentle reminders to offenders with the spa manager walking in the area on occasion. 

 

I can only hope it improves but know there will always be inconsiderate people who won't care to include spa personnel who don't wish to confront passengers.  I may reluctantly pack some ear plugs but don't care to use ear buds or headphones in the spa at this time.

 

Thank you for the responses as I appreciated reading about the experiences of other CC members.

 

 

[graphicguy]

Generally speaking, ship spas (any ship, any line) have lots of hard surfaces that sounds bounce around in, amplifying them.  Further, the water features can and do add to the sounds.

 

Add in inconsiderate cruisers and things can get a bit noisy!

 

What can NCL do?  I dunno?  If they try to police guests, which they are reluctant to do for obvious reasons, they risk customer service blow back.  If they don’t, you have what was described earlier.

 

Personally, I go to the spa to use the water features and steam/sauna rooms.  If I want peace and quiet, I go to the loungers usually on the very top decks where there are rarely any guests!

 

[cruiseny4life]

1 hour ago, Seas2mountains said:

This is wonderful to hear as you can guess which ship we are on next and if you guess the Prima, ding, ding, ding, you are correct! We did get the thermal spa pass and hope it is as quiet as you described. Fingers crossed. 

 

 

Yes, this cruise had a lot of large groups of friends and families sailing together which meant they went to the thermal spa together. We did try going in the morning around 9am.

What ship will you be on? That is great to hear that you have another cruise booked!

I think Pr1ma hit on a good thing with Pr1ma/V!va's thermal suite. While it is disappointing not to look out on the ocean from the different rooms (sauna, salt, etc.) and the pool, it did make for a quieter, more relaxing experience in the lay down area.

 

Of course my experience may be quite different since it was a Transatlantic with mostly couples onboard (range of ages from late 20's to 80's) using the thermal suite, and onboard, generally.

 

Make sure you bring water shoes/flippie floppies with you! The thermal suite floors are really, really slick. No matter how often they're squeegeed, they're still wet. I almost wiped out a couple times, as did a few other courageous (aka stupid) souls that didn't wear anything on bare feet. Seriously! It is really slick. I didn't have the same issues on Getaway.

 

We're heading back onboard Getaway. She's our first Norwegian ship and 1) I want to cruise out of New Orleans, 2) we both want a February vacation. So, we're doing that in February!

 

Looking forward to hearing about your experience on Pr1ma. It's a delightful, but quirky, ship.

[Andoria]

I bought the spa pass for the first time on my last cruise on the Gem (end of April). I was disappointed by all the loud talkers and got a bit miffed by how many tours were done. It's not all that relaxing when you're on a hot lounger and have people standing right in front of you getting a sale pitch.

 

Also, nothing is done about chair hogs and I tried not to be annoyed. 

 

Thankfully, I'm an early riser and found that going there right when they opened was the best time to go.

 

 

[Seas2mountains]

3 hours ago, graphicguy said:

Generally speaking, ship spas (any ship, any line) have lots of hard surfaces that sounds bounce around in, amplifying them.  Further, the water features can and do add to the sounds.

 

Add in inconsiderate cruisers and things can get a bit noisy!

 

What can NCL do?  I dunno?  If they try to police guests, which they are reluctant to do for obvious reasons, they risk customer service blow back.  If they don’t, you have what was described earlier.

 

Personally, I go to the spa to use the water features and steam/sauna rooms.  If I want peace and quiet, I go to the loungers usually on the very top decks where there are rarely any guests!

 

Yes, the voices get magnified and are more annoying when the loud conversations last 15 minutes and aren't a one-time comment.

We do find other peaceful locations outside of the spa and do love the heated lounge chairs and water features enough to keep paying for thermal spa passes despite the recent disappointments.

[ChiefMateJRK]

On 6/9/2024 at 5:40 AM, Noworkforme23 said:

On the Encore in December 2023 I had to walk up to a group in the hot tub and point out the quiet sign right next to them and I had many groups in there thanking me for doing so.    If they would have continued, I would have went to the front desk. 

Why didn't you just start with the front desk?

[zqvol]

I have never had it quiet in the thermal suite. If the water features are running, it is noisy in there. It doesn’t matter how loud someone is talking. 

[Edsny]

Its becauses cruises are for the masses now.Uneducated and ignorant young people.Us older guys have no chance.

[psuboater]

We just got off the Joy’s thermal suite (divine by the way!) It was mostly quiet except one afternoon where one family was FaceTiming their kids back home, and when people were in the hot tub. 
 

Given the overcrowding of the main hot tubs and if you don’t have Vibe, I’m wondering if people are using it really for the hot tubs and think it’s a good place to chat. I think putting up a “quiet area” sign next to the hot tubs would be a good first start. Anytime there were chatters in the hot tubs it bounced off the walls to the majority of the loungers. 
 

That being said, bringing air pods was a wise move. 

[psuboater]

4 hours ago, Edsny said:

Its becauses cruises are for the masses now.Uneducated and ignorant young people.Us older guys have no chance.

All of the offenders this week on the Joy were all old guys. I could tell you all about this guy and his retirement because he did not stop talking for 90 minutes straight and told the same story several times. 😂

Edited June 16 by psuboater

[Two Wheels Only]

9 minutes ago, psuboater said:

All of the offenders this week on the Joy were all old guys. I could tell you all about this guy and his retirement because he did not stop talking for 90 minutes straight and told the same story several times. 😂

 

 

 

 Old men are rarely rude and loud. 😁

[cruiseny4life]

22 hours ago, Edsny said:

Its becauses cruises are for the masses now.Uneducated and ignorant young people.Us older guys have no chance.

What on earth does this even mean? 

 

*cue the you're just an uneducated and ignorant (not really) young man theme*

[BostonGal35]

Gem spa was moderately noisy.  groups were socializing in the hyrdotherapy pool.   i ended up most of hte time grabbing a chair in teh women's spa area - most liked the chairs in the main area because they were there with a spouse so they wanted seats together.   i was there to read, had hoped to nap, but napping was a challenge.

[Distinctive-Destinations]

On 6/16/2024 at 10:45 AM, Edsny said:

Its becauses cruises are for the masses now.Uneducated and ignorant young people.Us older guys have no chance.

 

The irony of this post is strong. 

[Two Wheels Only]

58 minutes ago, Distinctive-Destinations said:

 

The irony of this post is strong. 

 

I noticed the same things that you noticed....but I decided to go in a different direction. 😎

[RN_Prof]

Last year, we were on the Encore at the end of March (Spring Break) out of New Orleans and the Caribbean. We found the Thermal Spa very loud, with a lot of people bringing in alcoholic drinks. We then sailed on the Pearl from Quebec to Boston at the end of September, and the spa was nice and quiet. So I think the noise is dependant on when and where you go.

 

I hope our Alaskan cruise (on the Encore) will also be nice and quiet at the end of September.

[Laszlo]

On 6/11/2024 at 3:02 PM, Andoria said:

I bought the spa pass for the first time on my last cruise on the Gem (end of April). I was disappointed by all the loud talkers and got a bit miffed by how many tours were done. It's not all that relaxing when you're on a hot lounger and have people standing right in front of you getting a sale pitch.

 

Also, nothing is done about chair hogs and I tried not to be annoyed. 

 

Thankfully, I'm an early riser and found that going there right when they opened was the best time to go.

 

 

Thats weird, my wife and I always get spa passes. The only time I have seen a tour is on embarkation day. We are early risers also, I'll usually go in around 8am, I might see a half dozen people until 9am.

[cruiseny4life]

39 minutes ago, Laszlo said:

Thats weird, my wife and I always get spa passes. The only time I have seen a tour is on embarkation day. We are early risers also, I'll usually go in around 8am, I might see a half dozen people until 9am.

I had never seen spa tours beyond the first day either....until our November 2023 cruise on Pr1ma. On that cruise they were offering three day passes throughout the cruise. It was an 11 day Transatlantic. Every day we saw a few people being shown around the spa by staff, in hopes of them purchasing a spa pass. Not sure how many did, but did speak somewhat loudly to be heard over all the normal spa noise (bubbling water, sloshing water, etc.).